If you’re already tracking your bills somewhere (spreadsheet, notes app, sticky notes), you don’t have to retype everything into Spew. Two import methods handle the common cases:
- CSV upload for structured data (Excel, Google Sheets)
- AI smart import for messy notes and plain text
Both are under the Data Repo tab.
Method 1: CSV upload
When to use
- You have a spreadsheet of bills already
- You want precise control over how data is parsed
- You have many bills (50+)
- Migrating from another budget app
The CSV format
Spew expects this structure:
Category, Bill Date, Amount, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
Rent, 1, 1500.00, 1500.00, 1500.00, 1500.00, 1500.00, , , , , , , ,
Internet, 15, 85.00, 85.00, 85.00, , , , , , , , , ,
Car Insurance, 10, 150.00, 150.00, 150.00, 150.00, , , , , , , , ,Columns explained:
- Category: the bill’s name (can include category prefix like “Utilities: Internet”)
- Bill Date: day of month (1-31) when the bill is due
- Amount: expected default payment amount
- January through December: actual payment amounts logged for each month (leave blank if no payment logged)
Steps to upload
- Click Data Repo in the main nav
- Scroll to CSV File Upload
- Click Choose File
- Select your CSV
- Spew shows a preview of what it parsed
- Click Confirm Import
Any parsing errors get flagged with specific rows you can fix before confirming.
CSV from another app
From YNAB:
- Export your budget as CSV
- Map columns to Spew’s format (you’ll need to reshape; YNAB exports differently)
From Excel/Sheets:
- Save as CSV (UTF-8)
- Ensure no merged cells
- Remove summary rows (totals at top or bottom)
From Mint (before shutdown):
- Mint’s CSV export is supported
- Spew will auto-map most columns
CSV gotchas
- Dates in dd/mm/yyyy format: Spew expects day-of-month only (1-31), not full dates
- Currency symbols: remove $ signs before import
- Thousands separators: remove commas in amounts (use 1500.00 not 1,500.00)
- Blank rows: ignored, fine to have
- Header row: Spew detects automatically; case-insensitive
Method 2: AI smart import
When to use
- You have bills in your head or in messy notes
- You don’t want to structure anything in advance
- You want fast, forgiving input
- You have 1-20 bills to add
How it works
You paste plain-English text describing your bills. Spew’s AI parses it into structured data: bill name, amount, due date, category.
Examples that work
I pay $1200 for Rent on the 1st.
Car insurance is $150 due on the 15th.
Netflix is $15.99.
Spotify $10/month.
Electric bill about $120, usually 20th of month.
Paid $450 for groceries last week.
Internet $85 on the 10th.
Student loan $280 monthly, due on 5th.
Gym membership $40 a month.
Phone bill $75 on the 20th.Click AI Auto-Tag. Spew transforms that into a structured table with categories, amounts, dates, and frequencies.
What the AI handles well
- Different ways to describe amounts: $1,500, 1500, fifteen hundred, $1.5K
- Different date formats: “on the 1st,” “due 15th,” “monthly on the 20th”
- Natural language: “a bit under $100,” “roughly $75”
- Context clues: “Netflix” auto-categorizes as Streaming
- Multiple currencies mentioned (defaults to USD)
What to review after AI parse
Review the parsed output for:
- Categories: AI guesses based on bill name. Fix any misassignments.
- Amounts: check for rounding issues ($1,199.99 is more accurate than $1,200)
- Dates: verify due dates match what you actually pay
- Duplicates: if you typed “Netflix” twice, you’ll get two entries
Click Approve when satisfied. Bills flow into your Monthly View.
AI import limits
The parser works best for 5-30 bills at a time. For larger volumes (50+), use CSV import instead. The AI can handle it but review becomes tedious.
Method 3: Manual entry
Sometimes the fastest path is just typing a few bills directly.
- Go to Monthly View
- Click + Add Bill
- Fill in name, category, amount, due date
- Save
Takes 20-30 seconds per bill. Fine for 3-10 bills. Painful for 30.
Method 4: Bank sync (ongoing, not initial)
Bank sync doesn’t technically “import” bills, but once connected, it:
- Auto-detects subscriptions and adds them to your tracking
- Matches new transactions to existing bills
- Learns categorization from your corrections
Bank sync is the long-term answer. CSV and AI import are faster for day one.
Combining methods
Most users do a hybrid:
- CSV or AI import for the 80% of bills they already know about (Day 1)
- Bank sync to catch everything else and keep ongoing data clean
- Manual entry for the occasional one-off
All three methods feed the same monthly grid. You won’t create duplicates if you follow the flow.
Clearing data and re-importing
If you imported and it looks wrong:
- Go to Account > Data Management
- Click Clear All Bills (careful: irreversible)
- Re-import with corrected data
Or, for smaller fixes: edit bills directly in Monthly View (click the bill name).
Next up
- Set up bank sync for ongoing automation: Bank sync guide
- Master the monthly grid once bills are in: Grid guide
- Run your first forecast: Forecast guide